It has been found that scent is currently been used in many environments as the primary element for searching persons, animals or things that could be hidden in a given region. For this purpose, animals, usually dogs, are trained to detect a specific odour and to move in the region to cover the whole area where the target could be hidden.
When the search is done outdoor, the area covered by a given path will depend on the movement of the dog, its capabilities and some local weather parameters, namely the wind direction and velocity, air temperature, air pressure and air humidity. In case the dog indicates a finding, it is usually not difficult to determine whether the target is in the place where the dog determines or not. However, when no target is found, or if the number of hidden targets is a priori ignored, there is a necessity to conclude if the search region has been thoroughly covered by the different paths followed. Failing in this assessment will impair the results of the search operation, with consequences that will depend on the specific kind of search, ranging from economical losses (search of truffles, damaging insects, leaks in pipes), to unpunished crimes (search of drugs, arson), safety (de-mining, search and rescue, search of snakes), environmental damages (poison baits) or human suffering (search of cadavers).
To determine that the search is exhausted, the operation coordinator has to consider the different trajectories followed during the search as well as the local weather parameters of each trajectory. In case of doubt, and depending on the criticality of the operation, the coordinator is forced to command additional searches to the dog teams, implying distress on the animals and waste of time that could be used in other operations. Although there exist inventions to register and transmit the location of animals, and inventions to register and transmit the local weather conditions, there exist no specific methods and systems conceived to assist the coordinators in the search operations reported above.
The positioning of objects and animals is usually done through the use of GNSS devices, transmitting their position to a central unit by different means.
The determination of local weather conditions is usually done by using weather stations including different technologies to measure wind direction, wind speed, air temperature, pressure and air humidity.
Communication between different devices is usually done using radiofrequency.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,310,553 can be cited as barely related to the present invention: it discloses a positioning means which comprises a GPS and a switch means carried by a search and rescue dog by way of a harness or jacket; the switch means incorporates a pull mechanism or a sound sensitive mechanism which activates the switch mechanism when the dog pulls the pull mechanism or barks. This causes activation of the GPS to record and/or transmit information to identify the position of the positioning means, and thus a person, animal, substance, or article found by the dog.
None of the above inventions and patent documents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.